Paper short abstract:

Developing water resilience will require goal-directed research, legitimated by affected communities, directed toward providing practical tools, and supporting adaptive management. This requires highly interdisciplinary research teams working in Pasteur's quadrant, blending theory and practice.

Paper long abstract:

Throughout the world, growth of urban populations, increasing per capita wealth, the need for more food production, and climate change will require improved water management. Engineers have historically dominated the realm of water management, often with disastrous results, especially in the Global South; it has become clear that achieving water resilience requires atransdisciplinary approach that includes both biophysical and social knowledge. Yet there are numerous toward this requisite collaboration- different vocabularies, different paradigms, and different approaches for doing research. I suggest several ideas for overcoming this tension. First, our research could be motivated by knowledge gaps identified by affected communities, legitimating research and assuring reception of useful findings. We might also turn away from elitist "recommendations" towards developing practical, readily accessible tools that can be used to solve problems on the ground. And finally, we might learn how to incorporate research findings into adaptive management platforms needed to achieve water resilience. This vision of goal-directed research to achieve water resilience would require highly interdisciplinary teams, working over many years, in close concert with affected communities. In doing so, engineers and social scientists might find harmony working in Pasteur's quadrant, blending theory and practice. Very likely developing knowledge to solve practical problems will likely strengthen, our theoretical frameworks, especially filling gaps in theory between disciplines.